The content analysis of organizational documents also showed wide variation in the use of marketing materials that highlight telehealth services. As illustrated in Table 1, only five HHAs scored 6 or higher in marketing. One-third of the HHAs included information on telehealth in their brochures, and nine of the 19 HHAs described telehealth on their web sites.
Not surprisingly, the HHAs in the early adopter group were a little further ahead than current adopters. In some instances vendor support was clearly instrumental in assisting HHAs. In others, management has dedicated substantial resources to promote telehealth. All of the managers included telehealth in their visions for the future. The incentives for using telehealth may differ, but consensus regarding its value did exist.
DISCUSSION
The HHAs in this project have responded to numerous challenges by adopting a new technology-telehealth. They are trailblazers in the world of twenty-first century healthcare and are on the leading edge of discovering how technology can be used to provide healthcare services more effectively. There are few blueprints on successful management practices; thus, their experiences will add to our understanding of telehealth and its role in healthcare. If the telehealth equipment remains on the shelf rather than used by patients, however, the investment will backfire. A systematic marketing plan is essential to promote the use of telehealth effectively.